£35K investment reflects environmental focus at packaging supplier

Corrugated packaging specialist GWP Packaging has invested £30K alongside a £5K green grant in order to upgrade their factory, warehouse and office lighting to LED.

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Contractors working on upgrading lights at GWP’s Cricklade production facility

The investment, which will save 114,000Kwh per year in energy at their Cricklade facility and reduce the firms’ C02 emissions by 47 tons per year, is the latest initiative to reduce environmental impact.

The installation, being carried out by LEDLights 4You, will see the full replacement of the existing Metal Halide & Fluorescent fittings with LED High Bay and LED Battens, and will take approximately three weeks to complete.

Barry Cuss, Plant & Services Manager at GWP Packaging commented,

“This hasn’t been an easy task due to space and the access that is required to infrastructure”.

But whilst this represents a significant outlay, it promises not only to lessen our environmental impact, but also to return a saving on our energy usage and increase the lighting standards within the facility”

This investment however is simply the latest in a number of environmentally focused projects that the company has worked on.

GWP were one of the first packaging companies in the UK to gain the ISO 14001 environmental accreditation, have installed automatic waste collection as part of the manufacturing process and actively encourage a waste-free process throughout the company.

GWP are also part owners of Corrboard – the UK’s newest and greenest manufacturer of corrugated board.

With the Corrboard corrugator already operating with up to 40% less energy than older installations, it has also pioneered pallet-less board deliveries (increasing load size on lorries, and thereby reducing the number of journeys and carbon emissions) and invested £3.5M in an anaerobic digester that generates enough electricity to supply 1000 homes and enough heat for 500.

Ruth Cook, Managing Director at GWP Packaging said:

“Even though corrugated packaging has a recycling rate of around 84% in the UK – being the highest recycling rate of any type of packaging – we are still acutely aware of the perception of packaging and the negative effect that it can have if not managed correctly.”

That is why we take our environmental responsibility so seriously, and this latest investment, whilst just another small step, will have a significant long term impact”.

Last month, GWP announced another successful year of trading with a continuing strong increase in turnover and new business. The Cotswold and Wiltshire-based manufacturing company saw turnover increase 8.9% in the 2016/17 financial year, up from 8.4% in the previous year.

Established in 1990, GWP now employ over 100 people at locations in Salisbury and Cricklade.

For information about GWP see www.gwp.co.uk or telephone 01793 754444.